Technological innovation
The Challenger expedition used simple but robust methods to collect observations and samples: geological dredges and biological nets, water sampling bottles and mercury in glass thermometers for the chemistry and physics of seawater. Navigation was by star sights and the depth measured by sounding lead line. Apart from improvements in depth measurement and navigation, methods used by marine scientists barely changed until the late 1960s. Since then the progress has been dramatic.Many technology developments for oceanography in the UK from the 1960s to the late 1980s came from the National Institute of Oceanography at Wormley (later the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences), examples of which can be found via the following links
Acoustic releases
Autosub
Current meter moorings
Data Buoy (DB1)Double Barrelled Capstan/Winch
Geological Long-Range Inclined ASDIC (GLORIA)
Meteorological measuring and recording (Multimet)
Neutrally buoyant floats
Ocean bottom Seismographs
Open Ocean Tide Gauges
Ship-borne Wave Recorder (SBWR)
Towed Ocean Bottom Instrument (TOBI)
The stories of other notable technology developments can be found at
Continuous plankton recorder
Marine seismics at University of Cambridge
Tide Prediction Machines
Sediment corers
Analytical chemistry methods
Latest News
Challenger Society History of Oceanography SIG Webinars
The Challenger Society Special Interest Group on the History of Oceanography will be having a series of zoom webinars in 2025. The talks will be at 5pm UK time on Wednesday evenings (3rd Wed of the month):
Job vacancy
The Ocean Census is actively seeking a Workshop Coordinator to join our dynamic team to manage the workshop and related processes with an international alliance of partners. The deadline for applications is 15th December 2024. Link to further details: https://oceancensus.org/job-opportunity-workshop-coordinator/
Socio-oceanography Workshop sets sights on key climate and ocean challenges
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is calling on scientists and researchers to participate in its fourth annual Socio-Oceanography Workshop, hosted in collaboration with the Marine Social Science Network.
This international event, set to take place at NOC’s Southampton site 26-28 February 2025, will gather experts across natural and social sciences to tackle the pressing issues linking people and the changing ocean.
This year’s workshop will focus on four key themes, including the impact of climate change-driven shifts in marine species distribution and how these changes will affect the way the UK marine environment is perceived, valued, and managed.
Other topics include integrating digital humans into environmental digital twins, addressing biases in research related to marine carbon dioxide removal, and exploring how local communities can engage in participatory environmental monitoring.